Otherworldly
by MultiHydralisk
Summary: Taking place right after Korra saves Kuvira from destruction by her own spirit energy cannon. Not only was the result another Spirit Portal opening in the heart of Republic City, but a gateway has torn through reality itself. The World of Benders has been opened to the universe of Fallout 4. Can Korra find her way through a world ravaged by atomic fire? (Adopted from Worldwalker14)
1. Chapter 1: Rough Landing in Paradise

**Note: Well hello, wonderful denizens of the internet! My name is MultiHydralisk, and I must say it's a pleasure to meet you all! It's remarkable how long I had been coming to this site and reading stories without an account, and how much longer it took me after creating one to finally submit something. What finally drove me to action? The story you are about to indulge in was set to be abandoned by it's previous owner, Worldwalker14. "No," I said to myself. "This will not do at all." I saw the beginnings of a truly wonderful story that I didn't want to see destroyed, so I took it upon myself to adopt it from Worldwalker14. I hope to live up to the expectations raised by the original readers of this story, and I shall be collaborating with Jack Cross to ensure that nothing feels too out of place for the story.**

 **With all of that out of the way, I do not claim ownership of** ** _The Legend of Korra_** **or** ** _Fallout 4_** **. All rights are to their respective owners and no money will be made from this Fanfiction. It is a creation by fans, for fans. _Fallout 4_ is owned by Bethesda Softworks while _The Legend of Korra_ is owned by Nickelodeon Studios. Please don't sue me!**

Chapter 1

Nate Williams sat against a post in the church belfry, loading a new clip into his .308 hunting rifle. His left leg was pulled up close to his body, while his right dangled lazily out of the bell tower, completely unfazed by the possible four story drop to the street below. Closing his left eye, he peered down the scope at his target. A raider was leaning against the rusted out body of a pickup truck, eating the fried flesh of a squirrel impaled upon a stick and blissfully unaware of the rifle sights being lined up with his head.

It was dusk, and the sun was casting a red glow on the woods around him. Nate had learned long ago that traveling in The Commonwealth after dark came with all sorts of risks. But, his time in the army had prepared him for all kinds of danger. What it hadn't prepared him for was the creatures that this new world had to offer. Some, like the infamous deathclaw, were incredibly dangerous and able to rip a man limb from limb.

Others, like the radstag that roamed the woods around Sanctuary, offered up a fine meal when cooked just right.

For the twenty three year old, the world didn't make any sense anymore. To him, it seemed like just last week he had been in his house in the suburb of Sanctuary Hills, freshly enjoying his time as a civilian. His wife, Nora was about to get off maternity leave and return to her job as a lawyer in Boston, while their infant son, Shawn, was growing at an astounding rate.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Nate would never forget the morning the world came to an end. He had been in the bathroom, preparing himself for a speech at the local veterans hall. Since he no longer had to keep his black hair shaved to military regulation, he had let it grow out a little bit and put it up into what they called a dapper style. His facial hair consisted of a well kept beard, what the barber had referred to as a lone wanderer style.

But, it was his face that was the reason he had been discharged from the army. Burn scars dominated his right cheek, most of his nose, and up between his eyes. An incendiary grenade had exploded near his face while he was deployed to the Anchorage Front. As a result, he'd spent months recuperating before being promptly informed that he was no longer fit for combat and was being sent home.

At first, Nate didn't quite know how to take it. He had enlisted when he was seventeen, and for the past six years the military was all he'd ever known. Eventually he decided that it was for the best. He could spend more time with his family, and his time served meant that it was unlikely he'd be facing the Chinese in combat ever again.

Not that it mattered on the morning of Saturday, October 23rd, 2077.

The TV in the living room had given a report that there were nuclear explosions occurring in New York and Pennsylvania, and then the air raid sirens outside had sounded, prompting the young family to sprint to the local vault. Luckily for them, they had been granted access into Vault 111 thanks to Nate's service in the army.

They boarded the elevator that led down to the vault, just as a warhead exploded somewhere to the south of them. The last thing Nate had seen of his world in its normal state was the massive orange fireball of a nuclear explosion dominating the sky. Then, the protective door had slid shut, and Nate's life changed in more ways then one. His wife was murdered, his son kidnapped, and Nate himself now found himself two hundred and ten years in the future, trying to survive the aftermath of Armageddon.

In the month since he'd left Vault 111, Nate had helped establish a new settlement in the ruins of Sanctuary Hills with the help of a small group of settlers he'd helped in Concord. With the new town established, Nate set out once again. He tracked his wife's killer, a mercenary named Kellogg all across the Commonwealth, from Sanctuary, to Diamond City, and finally to Fort Hagen. There in the ruins of the old military facility, the Old World Soldier had dueled the New World Mercenary. In the end, Nate's speed on the draw had been quicker, and Kellogg's life ended with a bullet to the head.

But it wasn't the happy ending Nate had been hoping for. Shawn, the son he had searched so hard for, was no where to be found. He had been sent to a facility known as the Institute long before he had arrived, and now Nate was left with a dead end and no where to turn. Left with nothing else to do, he'd returned to Sanctuary, throwing himself into work around the new settlement in an effort to take his mind off of the child he couldn't reach.

Which was why he was here now, watching the small raider band that was standing around the long abandoned hardware store just across the street. When he had first wandered into the town of Concord, Nate had stumbled headlong into a firefight between a band of raiders and a small group of settlers.

Between the Pre War veteran, the settlers, and a deathclaw that had introduced itself late into the fight, the original band of raiders had either been killed off or fled into the wilderness. The group that Nate was watching now appeared to be a splinter group from the gang based in Lexington, having worked their way north either to join or check up on their missing buddies. The rotting bodies that dotted the street, and the massive corpse of the deathclaw told them all they needed to know about what had happened.

Apparently lacking the common sense to move on from what was obviously not the best place around, the small gang had decided to stick around and set up a base camp from which they were preparing to raid nearby settlements. While Sanctuary had grown rapidly over the past month and boasted enough defenses to tear these raiders to shreds should they try to attack, the smaller farms in the area were still vulnerable. Hence, Nate sitting the town's church bell tower with a rifle, waiting for the sun to fully set so he could start picking them off one by one under the cover of night.

The distant thud of an explosion echoed off the buildings and the hills around them. Puzzled, Nate lowered his rifle and looked toward the source of the noise. His view, however, was blocked by the Museum of Freedom, which sat next door to the church he was in. Beside him, his constant companion over the past month perked up. The German Shepard let out a soft whine as he looked toward the noise.

"It's alright boy, probably some dumbass taking potshots at a car in the old parking lot across town," he said while scratching under the dog's chin. The dog whined again before lowering his head and putting his paws over his nose. Nate patted him on the head before he went back to looking at the raiders.

Like him, the noise had caught their attention. They were all on guard now with their pipe weapons at the ready. Evidently, finding the bodies of their friends lying in the middle of the street had put them on edge. After a short moment, though, they began to relax when they realized they weren't under attack. Nate rolled his eyes before raising his rifle again.

Just before he fully looked down the scope, a new flurry of movement caught his attention. Just a block away from the raiders was the awning of an old bus stop and the sky blue tube of a Pulowski Preservation Shelter. Standing in the street just in front of the bus stop was a young woman who seemed completely unaware of the danger that was just a block away.

Frowning at her sudden appearance, Nate shifted slightly so that he could use the scope to get a better look at her. She was wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt, navy blue trousers, a brown fur skirt, and brown leather knee high boots. A pair of arm bands the same color as her pants covered her arms from her armpits down. Her coal black hair hung down to her chin, and her skin was a light coffee brown color.

Even from this distance, Nate could see the look of confusion on her face, and the lack of weapons on her body. If the raiders discovered her presence, no doubt she would be considered the catch of the day for them. Although instinct told him to maintain a cold distance from those around him in this harsh new world, Nate had still found himself time and again looking out for those who were unable to help themselves.

He could only hope that the raiders stayed where they were at, and that this newcomer didn't wander toward them by accident. Nate watched as the girl studied the buildings around her before she settled her gaze on the prewar protection pod.

"Don't do it, leave the damn thing alone," he muttered to himself under his breath as he watched her walk toward the pod. She pulled the lever on the door, causing it to swing wide open and blare it's advertisement, to which she jumped back, startled. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of one of the raiders, who began walking up the sidewalk toward the bus stop to investigate the noise.

Nate quickly lined up the scope with the back of the man's head and took his rifle off safety. He waited, holding his breath and steadying his hand just like he'd been taught all those years ago in basic training. The former soldier watched as the raider rounded the corner and spotted the young woman standing in front of the pod. She saw the raider at the same time he saw her, and quickly raised her fists for a fight. But the man went for his gun first, leveling it out at her. Nate didn't so much as hesitate or bat an eye as he squeezed the trigger.

Korra POV.

Korra's senses were all out of whack. She couldn't tell up from down, left from right, only that her vision was gone, her ears were filled with a roaring noise, and she both smelled and tasted copper. The last thing she remembered was jumping in front of Kuivira to shield the woman from the out of control beam of the Spirit Cannon.

Then, everything had gone white.

As her vision slowly returned, Korra realized that she was looking at a bright blue sky with touches of orange from either dawn or dusk. She had been in the Republic City Spirit Wilds when the Cannon had exploded, so she should have been looking at the deep green of the vine overgrowth, not clear sky.

Rolling over onto her hands and knees, the Avatar looked at her surroundings for the first time. Around her were the rusting hulks of a few trucks and cars, although the models didn't look anything like the satomobiles she was use to. Several houses sat atop a nearby ridge, and even from here she could see the state of neglect they were in. Many of them had shattered windows and were missing bits of siding. One of them was even missing part of its roof.

Pushing off of her hands and knees, Korra tried to start walking toward the houses. But she only took a few steps before dizziness overwhelmed her and she fell again. Shaking her head, she pushed herself up and tried again. This time she was able to stay upright and began to half walk, half stumble toward the houses.

As she walked, Korra noted the state of everything around her. The asphalt of the parking lot she was in was cracked with weeds growing through in several places. Many of the vehicles were little more then rusted out scrap, echos of the machines they once were. Korra could tell just by looking that this place had been abandoned for a long time. But the houses were her best bet of finding someone, anyone, and finding out just where she was.

As she walked up the cracked road, Korra found herself studying the buildings more and more. Their architecture was familiar, yet different somehow. Their roofs lacked the upwards turn of the shingles on the corners that dominated so many buildings back home. The further she walked, the more she began to fear that she was on her own here.

Coming to a stop in front of a bus stop, Korra dug her pinky into her ear in an effort to get the last of the ringing to go away. The dizziness had worn off by now, and all of her other senses had returned to normal. As she tried to get her ears to pop, the Avatar took notice of the old advertisement posters plastered to the bust stop.

Or, to be more precise, she noticed the language they were in. It wasn't the common symbols that were used all over the world back home. No, these letters were smaller and more strange looking. Behind the bus stop, she noticed a sky blue metal tube. It was about ten feet tall, and had hints of rust on it.

"Might be a phone booth I can use," she said to herself as she walked over to the tube. After a moment of looking it over, she noticed a handle on the side and gave it a firm yank. Instantly, half the pod slid open, causing Korra to jump back in surprise.

"Pulowski: Nuclear protection on a budget!" an automated female voice blared cheerfully.

"Nuclear protec...what?" Korra asked. The tube just left her even more confused then before. Inside, there was no phone, just an exhaust fan in the ceiling of the pod and a few buttons on the wall. Korra let out a disappointed sigh before she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. After traveling the world on her own for a while, she had learned to trust her senses.

Someone was watching her.

Turning, Korra found herself looking at a man who was standing a short distance away next to a small white picket fence. His face and clothing were covered with dirt, evidence that he hadn't bathed in a long time. A grin spread across his face, revealing his black rotting teeth.

"Ha! Fresh meat!" he cried as he looked at her with a hunger that made her skin crawl. Korra raised her fists and took a fighting stance. She was confident she could handle him without a problem.

"I wouldn't if I were you," she warned. The man's grin only grew as he drew some kind of contraption made of wood and metal from his belt.

"I like it when they've got some fight in 'em," he said, leveling the weapon at her. Just as Korra opened her mouth for a retort, the man's head suddenly exploded into a red mist. Bits of skull, brain matter, and other things flew everywhere as a thunderous crack echoed off of the buildings. She could only look on in shock with her mouth agape as the now headless body fell to the ground.

Instantly, the street was filled with motion and chaos. The group the man had been apart of, three men and a woman, were looking all over while pointing their weapons toward the roofs. Korra ducked behind the picket fence as another crack filled the air, followed closely by one of the men falling dead. The woman of the group started shooting her weapon at the white wooden building with the tall tower just down the street.

"The church! The sniper is in the..." she never finished as a bullet smashed into her forehead, causing her head to jerk back before she fell spread eagle in the street. Her two remaining companions began to shoot at the tower as well, but were foolish to not seek cover. Within seconds, it was all over as the last two men fell dead.

As silence fell over the town, Korra cautiously poked her head out around the corner. In the tower of the building the woman had called a church, she could see someone waving at her. She hesitantly raised her hand and gave a small wave back. Just as quickly as she had noticed the figure, it disappeared inside the building.

Keeping her hands at the ready, Korra came out of her hiding place and began to walk up the street toward the building. As she reached the center of the intersection where the raiders had been standing, she saw a man and a dog step out the front door of the church.

The man was wearing a worn gray fedora, a ratty brown leather trench coat, a green button down shirt, faded and dirty blue jeans, and worn dust covered combat boots. A pair of belts were wrapped around his midsection, and hide gloves covered his hands. The wooden and metal staff he had been using was slung over his shoulder, along with an olive drab rucksack.

As he drew closer, Korra was surprised to see that he wasn't much older then herself. His face was a handsome one, warm and inviting, once you got past the burn scars that dominated his cheek and nose.

"Are you alright?" he asked when he was close enough. Korra nodded.

"Um...yeah, thanks. Do you have any water?" she asked. Her voice sounded rough and her throat was dry. The man reached into his pack and pulled out a metal canteen, which he passed to her. Korra said her thanks before she drank deeply from the canteen, savoring the cooling feeling the liquid had on her throat.

"What are you doing, wandering around out here without any weapons? You get separated from your caravan?" he asked. Korra gave him a look of confusion as she handed the canteen back to him.

"No I...I don't even know where here is to be honest. You're the first person I've met that hasn't tried to attack me," she said.

"Yeah, raiders tend to do that," he said as he slid the canteen back into his pack. Korra looked down at one of the dead bodies and her cheeks gained a tinge of green. This didn't escape the man's notice.

"Not use to killing much." It wasn't a question, more of a statement. She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I've always seen killing as a last resort, and even then in self defense only."

"Heh, with these guys? Killing is the only option. It's a lot better then the alternative, trust me."

"And what exactly is the alternative, Mr...?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, Nate Williams," he said before sticking out his hand. Korra took it and shook it as firmly as she could muster.

"Korra."

"Well, Korra how is it that you've never encountered raiders before?"

"The police always arrest bandits, unless you're in the Earth Kingdom, but I think Kuvira has been taking care of that," she said. Nate gave her a look like he only understood half of what she was saying, what he did understand was crazy, and the other half was in another language.

"Police? There hasn't been any real law enforcement around here for two hundred years," he said.

"You still haven't said where here is," she pointed out.

"You're standing in Concord, or what's left of it anyway. And to answer your question about raiders; rape, general chaos, more rape, murder, and then your body strung up and hung from one of these light posts by your entrails. And, if you're lucky, they'll do it in that order." A look of horror crossed the Avatar's face.

"That's awful! Why hasn't someone done something about it?"

"Because there's a lack of law enforcement, and civilization in general," Nate replied, his eyebrow cocked slightly as he regarded her.

"Lack of...what are you talking about? What happened?" The Rifeman looked at her like she had just grown a second head.

"You've got to be from a Vault," he said, although it sounded like the comment was meant for himself rather then her.

"A Vault? You mean like a bank vault?" Nate took a deep breath and ran his hand down his face. The amount of questions coupled with the apparent lack of knowledge about anything was starting to wear on him.

"Okay you know what? Since you're clearly lost, I'll take you back to Sanctuary, and then you can ask all the questions you want. Sound good?" he asked. Korra hesitated as she looked down at one of the dead raiders.

"Sanctuary. Is it safe?"

"Hell of a lot more safe then the place you're standing now, believe me." Korra eyed him suspiciously. She'd only just met this man, and given the circumstances, she wasn't sure if she could trust him. The five dead raiders in the street was a clear sign that he was a force not to be underestimated.

Then again, he had just saved her life when he didn't have to.

"Alright. Sanctuary it is," she said. Instantly, Nate's face brightened into a smile.

"Good! If we hurry we can make it there before dark," he said before he turned to her right and began to walk up the street. Both Korra and the dog had to hurry to catch up with his brisk pace. The street was littered with corpses, sandbag walls, and burnt out vehicles. It looked more like a warzone then a small town street, but Korra kept her mouth shut, saving her questions for later.

"Hope you don't mind a little music," Nate said as he lifted his left arm. Korra noticed for the first time that he had some kind of bulky object on his wrist, like a ridiculously sized bracelet. He fiddled with a small black nob, and suddenly music filled the air around them. The Avatar blinked in surprise. The closest thing someone could get to portable music back home was if they picked up a phonograph and ran around with it while it was playing.

"Ah, sweet! They're playing my song," he said. The music had a steady swing to it, and soon the rifleman was tilting his head side to side with the beat as he walked. Korra and the dog shared a look before they continued to follow him.

 _"Oh, and I'm the type of guy who will never settle down.'_

 _'Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around.'_

 _'I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same.'_

 _'I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em, they don't even know my name.'_

 _'They call me The Wanderer, yeah The Wanderer.'_

 _'I roam around, around, around, around.'_

 _"What have I gotten myself into?"_

"Its perfectly safe. See? It's holding my weight," Nate said as he gave Korra an irritated look. He was standing on the wooden footbridge that crossed the river into Sanctuary. Korra, however, refused to set foot on the ancient, partially collapsed structure for fear of falling though the boards.

"That doesn't mean that it'll hold both of us."

"You're being over dramatic."

"And you're being suicidal." Nate rolled his eyes at this. The sun had all but set, and he was itching to get across the bridge and into the town safely.

"Look, the longer we stand here, the more likely we are to take stray bullet or get mauled by one of the nighttime critters. So if you would please..." he trailed off before stepping to the side and motioned for her to proceed. Korra eyed the soldier before she cautiously set foot onto the bridge. Nate flashed her a smile before he turned and led the way across.

The Avatar wasn't sure what she was expecting from a town called Sanctuary. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't anywhere near the real thing. The town gates, if they could be called that, consisted of a pair of guard towers resting on the far side of the bridge along with a pair of light machine gun turrets. Two guards stood on either tower, while a third was standing in between the two, a pipe rifle resting on his shoulder.

"Nate! Glad to see you back in one piece," said the guard standing in the middle of the road as they approached. "Preston is looking for you."

"Why doesn't THAT surprise me?" he asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. As they walked past the gate, Korra got her first real look at the town itself. On the left was a sky blue house that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Surprisingly though, there were electric lights on inside, and a small radio sat in the window. In the house's garage port sat a small campfire with a large pot dangling over it from a chain. A few people were clustered around the fire, while one of them stirred the contents of the pot.

Across the road was a building that didn't look like it quite belonged. It was a square, two story structure with tin siding walls. The second floor had what looked like guard posts facing the four cardinal directions. Spotlights rested on the roof, illuminating the areas outside the confides of the town.

"What's on the menu tonight?" Nate asked, speaking to the ones around the campfire.

"Vegetable soup," replied the one who was stirring.

"Wasn't that what we had the other night?"

"Hey, the tato harvest was pretty decent, so that's what we're having."

"I wanted steak."

"You're the one who's always bringing the meat back, Nate. You want steak, fork over the meat." Nate simply gave a half grin as he turned and sat off up the road again. Korra turned and quickly followed, despite the rumblings in her stomach. She had caught a whiff of the soup, and it made her mouth water.

The road turned off to the right, with more old houses on the left. On the right sat another two story building that looked like it had been built out of scrap. Unlike the other buildings, this one had kerosene lamps illuminating it, and several people seemed to be clustering around the entrance.

"That's the town bunkhouse," Nate explained as they walked past, "a lot of the newcomers stay there until they're able to get moved into one of the older houses." Korra watched the place as they walked past, wondering if that was where she was going to be sleeping tonight. Just a little further up the road sat a long blue house on the left side. A large, prop plane engine resting on stilts stood on the roof, and electric lights illuminated the inside.

Across the street sat a low yellow house. Like the bunkhouse next door, kerosene lamps and candles illuminated the place in the failing light. Standing in the carport was a metal suit that reminded Korra of the mecha tanks used by Kuvira's army. It was supported by chains from a yellow crane of sorts. She didn't know the specifics of machinery, that had always been Asami's area of expertise.

"That's my place," Nate said, pointing toward the house with the plane's engine on the roof, "And that's the town's storage house. Weapons, food, all in one central location." They continued up the street, with Nate finally heading toward a building entrance.

It was a low, single story building that sat next door to the town's supply cache. Unlike the other hand made buildings the pair had past, this one had wooden planks for the walls rather then tin siding. Light poured out of the door, as well as the sound of drunken laughter. Although she couldn't read the sign that rested above the door, it was clear that this was the town bar.

"This is the Restricted Access, the town bar. Don't ask me on the name, guy who runs the place found that old sign, slapped it up and thought it'd be hilarious if that was the name," he said.

"That's not very funny," Korra commented. Nate simply shrugged.

"Anything is funny when you're drunk and doped out of your mind, I guess." The inside of the bar was a simple layout. Along the wall on the right rested a pool table, where a few people were playing a game while others placed bets. On the left was the bar itself. Little more then a couple of counters someone had ripped out of one of the old houses before placing them back to back and setting two pair of bar stools down before it.

Directly across the room rested a jukebox, which was currently blaring a tune. A single ceiling fan hung down in the center of the room, while a single bare bulb hung above the pool table and two more hung above the bar. In the corner behind the bar sat a chemistry station, where one of the two bartenders was currently at work mixing up a new concoction.

"Nate, you're back!" a man wearing a pair of overalls called from the corner to their left. He had a set of welders goggles hanging around his neck, and several tools lined his belt. Next to him sat a man with a dark completion, gray trench coat, and a hat with one of the it's sides pinned up. Nate walked over to the table the pair were sharing.

"Sturges, Preston," he greeted.

"Did you get that situation with Abernathy Farm figured out?" the one he'd referred to as Preston asked.

"Yep, I let those raiders burn the place to the ground. Step outside and you should still be able to see the smoke." Korra's eyebrow went up in confusion, and the look on Preston's face made it clear that he didn't find the joke very funny. Nate evidently noticed this as well.

"I took care of the band that reoccupied Concord, Abernathy is fine," he said, his tone more serious this time.

"That's good. The more people we help out, the more will join our cause. I've gotten word of another..."

"Preston, I swear to God, if you tell me that another fucking settlement needs my help, I will repaint the wall behind you with your brain matter and then wear your hat as a trophy as I burn that settlement to the ground!" Nate interrupted. Preston's face was one of surprise, while Sturges simply grinned.

"I told you not to go thrusting another one on him as soon as he got back," he said, jabbing the Minuteman playfully with his elbow.

"But, these people really need help..." he started, but fell silent again when Nate held up his hand.

"People always need help in the Commonwealth, Preston. I'll hear about it in the morning, until then we've got other matters to deal with," he said.

"I'm guessing these matters have to do with your lady friend here," Sturges said, motioning toward Korra.

"Yeah. Gentlemen this is Korra, Korra this is Sturges, the town's tinkerer of sorts, and Preston Garvey, head of the town guard," Nate said, making introductions. Korra gave an awkward wave.

"Hey," she said.

"What seems to be the problem, Ms?" Preston asked.

"Well, I don't really know where I am."

"She's got some kind of memory loss near as I can tell," Nate said. Korra look at him with anger in her eyes.

"I do not have memory loss!" she snapped.

"What makes you think that?" Sturges asked, ignoring her outburst.

"She's never encountered Raiders before. No idea about the Commonwealth or anything in general. It's either memory loss, or she's not from around here," Nate answered.

"If it's memory loss, there's only one place I can think of that might be able to help with that," Preston said. Nate sighed and looked at his boots.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Hey! Don't act like I'm not standing right here," Korra said.

"Look, we'll get your situation figured out in the morning. For now, I'm exhausted, and I'd like to get to bed," Nate said.

"And where am I suppose to sleep?"

"You can bunk at my place. See ya, fellas," Nate said before he turned and left the bar. Korra looked after him for a moment, looked back at the two men with a confused look, before hurrying after the rifleman.

"What makes you so sure that I have memory loss?" she asked when she finally caught up with him.

"It's the more logical answer. You don't know anything, about Raiders, about the Commonwealth, or even the Great War. Tomorrow, we'll head to Goodneighbor and see if we can get your memories back."

"But I don't have memory loss!"

"Either way, Goodneighbor is one of the better places to start if you want a way to get back where you belong, that or Diamond City," Nate said as he led the way into his house. The place was in decent shape for being over two hundred years old. To their right, in what Korra realized was the living room sat an old red couch, along with an arm chair of the same color. A radio sat on the island that separated the kitchen and the living room, playing a soft tune.

The windows, with their glass long busted out, had been covered with tin siding in an effort to add some privacy and protect the interior from the elements. A single bare bulb hung down and illuminated the room.

"Bedroom is down that way, second door on the left," Nate said, gesturing toward a hallway that led off to their left as he unslung his rifle and sat it in the corner behind the door.

"What about you?" she asked, peaking down the hallway before looking back at him. He smiled as he took his fedora off and hung it on a coat rack next to the rifle.

"I'll sleep on the couch and keep an eye out," he said, patting the pair of 10mm pistols that hung in the holsters on his large belt at his hips.

"Okay, well goodnight," she said before making her way toward the bedroom. Like the living room and kitchen, it was lit up by a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. A single bed sat against the wall, while an olive green footlocker sat at its feet. More tin siding covered the gaping holes where the windows use to be.

"Sweet dreams," she muttered to herself as she laid down on the bed and kicked off her boots. The bed may have been old and uncomfortable, but it beat sleeping on the floor or the ground by a mile. As her tired mind slowly wined down, Korra couldn't help but wonder how everything was going back in Republic City. Where her friends alright? And where was Kuvira?

Perhaps tomorrow she would get her answers.

 **Note: Any and all feedback is welcome, so please do not hesitate to voice your opinions on how to improve this story. I eagerly await all criticism! *sweeping bow***


	2. Chapter 2: Trip Down Memory Lane

***Pokes head around corner* Um, h-hey guys! It's me again! Sorry I took so-*screams and ducks to avoid a large thrown battle axe* Ahem. Sorry about the delay. I was working on an internship that ended today and made time to work on and post this chapter. It's shorter than the last one, but that's because it's more of a basic transition to get both Korra and Nate somewhere relatively calm so they can chat and learn about each other. I don't know about all of you, but it seems every time I try to have a conversation with a companion in Fallout 4, it gets interrupted by the monster or moron of the hour who decides it's totally a good idea to rush me. Settlements and towns overall seem to be a good place for those kinds of moments. And yes, Korra got to meet MacCready. It wasn't a full on introduction, as I feel Nate will save that for when he gathers everyone for a proper introduction. At this point in the story, Nate has met only a few of his friends. Preston, Codsworth, Nick, Dogmeat, and MacCready. Do you have a specific companion in mind for the Avatar to meet next? What interactions do you think would be the most interesting out of them? Let me know in the review section what you think so far! Thoughts, comments, or concerns? I welcome them all! I do not claim ownership of _The Legend of Korra_ or _Fallout 4_. All rights are to their respective owners and no money will be made from this Fanfiction. It is a creation by fans, for fans. _Fallout 4_ is owned by Bethesda Softworks while _The Legend of Korra_ is owned by Nickelodeon Studios. Please don't sue me!**

Chapter 2

Korra jerked awake and looked around. She had been hoping that recent events had been a bad dream. But her surroundings told her otherwise. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes. Sliding on her boots, she slowly made her way out to the living room.

Her rescuer from the day before was nowhere to be found, meaning that the house was totally empty. Walking to the front door, she opened it and found herself looking at a bustling settlement going about its normal routines. Some people were tending to crops, others were hammering away at various projects of theirs.

A young man came walking up to her, leaving Korra on edge around the stranger. He looked to be about her age, wearing a green patrol cap, a ratty brown duster, a green shirt, green trousers and black combat boots. A pair of binoculars hug from the belt around his waist and several bullets were either attached to his leg, or stuck in the brim of his hat. A lit cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth, and a hunting rifle was slung over his shoulder.

"You must be the new girl," he said as he came to a halt a short distance away from her.

"What gave me away?" Korra responded.

"Well for one, you look too clean to be another drifter living in the middle of nowhere. Also, you haven't tried shooting anyone so I can safely rule out 'raider'. Add in the funky clothes and who else could you be?"

Ignoring the light quip about her appearance compared to the other people she had seen so far, Korra decided to get to the point already."Mind telling me who you are?" she asked.

"Name's MacCready. The boss wanted me to keep an eye on ya while he was out."

"You mean Nate? Where is he?"

"He's out hunting, should be back soon. Come on, let me show you around."

* * *

"Gah, this place reeks!" Korra said, pinching her nose at the smell in the air. Nate couldn't help but smirk at her reaction. He'd had a similar one when he had first arrived in Goodneighbor.

"Yep, that's Goodneighbor alright. Nothing like the smell of piss, vomit, and general lack of hope to make your mid morning," he said. Directly ahead of them, a gun store and a general store both occupied the ground floor of a partially collapsed building. To their left stood a brick building that generally looked out of place with everything else around them.

As Nate led the way down the alley between the two buildings, Korra couldn't help but stare at her surroundings. She'd never seen a town like this before, although the general disrepair and tattered look of the people did remind her of a few towns she had passed through in the Earth Kingdom. Her guide walked with one hand on his rifle sling, while the other rested on one of his pistols. Clearly, he was expecting trouble of some kind, although after what she had just witnessed, she wasn't surprised.

Korra's first experience with the city of Boston was one she would not soon forget. Nate had woken her up just before dawn, and together the two had left Sanctuary, making their way southeast past Lexington to Bunker Hill. From there, they'd headed south, crossing the Charles River and entering the city of Boston itself. For the first part of the journey, Nate had filled her in about some of the general things of the Commonwealth. After they'd crossed the river though, it was almost a non-stop mad dash through the ruins. Every corner they turned, it seemed there was a trigger happy raider or some other danger waiting for them. The longer she spent here, the more Korra began to feel uneasy. It wasn't that she was intimidated or even scared…exactly. It was more how everything felt. The elements she would normally bend felt sick even without her touching them, as if the world was poisoned and was struggling to breathe properly.

When Nate had his back turned to load his rifle after the latest monstrosity, an enormous fly, decided it didn't like them, she attempted water bending a nearby puddle of stagnant water. At first, nothing out of the ordinary happened as the surface rippled and started to shift under her manipulations. However, this changed when Korra broke off a small sphere of the green liquid from the rest of the body. It felt completely FOUL, worse than the fetid remnants that could be found in a dumpster after a heavy rainfall in Republic City. Hearing the telltale sound of Nate stowing his rifle across his back, Korra quietly lowered the water back into the puddle so they could continue on their way. From what she had seen of the man, he didn't appear to be a bender and nor did he seem to recognize her in any way as the Avatar. Filing this curiousity away for later, Korra decided to focus on the task at hand first. Thankfully, the remainder of the journey was fairly uneventful. While she would hesitate to call Goodneighbor an ideal place to be, it may as well have been paradise compared to the environment outside.

"Well, at least no one is shooting at us," Korra said as they stepped out of the alley into the main square of the town. It wasn't much, just a few more torn up buildings along with some tall barricades on either end of the street.

"I blame your shirt," Nate said over his shoulder as he led the way across the street to a building with a pair of red wooden doors. It wasn't the first time the former sniper had taken issue with her clothing. Her dark blue shirt, although it did wonders for showing off her arms and muscles, stuck out like a sore thumb against most backgrounds in the Commonwealth. He had tried to convince her to change, or at the very least wear a coat so that she blended in a little better, but the Avatar had remained her stubborn self and refused. Needless to say, she was regretting her decision as bullets whizzed by her head.

"What is this place?" Korra asked as they entered the building. From what she could gather, this place had once been a club or a theatre of some sort. The walls inside were made of brick, and the light came from several candles that burned on some small end tables that lined the walls. A few metal pods sat scattered about, while a red carpet led the way straight up the center to small section of raised floor. A blonde woman wearing a red feathered dress was reclining on a love seat here.

"The Memory Den," Nate answered her, walking past the pods as if he'd seen them before, which he had.

"Ah, Mr. Williams, come to sample the Memory Den for yourself this time?" the woman asked. The former soldier shook his head.

"Not this time, Irma. Is the Doc in?" The woman made a small pouting motion with her lips, although Korra got the feeling she wasn't as upset as she made out to be.

"She's down stairs." Nate smiled and tipped the brim of his hat before he motioned for Korra to follow. She walked closely behind him as he led the way through a side door and down a couple flights of wooden stairs. At the bottom, they found themselves in a room with some equipment lining the walls and a pair of pods sitting in the center. All of it was illuminated by a single florescent light on the ceiling.

Typing on a console on the far side of the room was a woman with black hair tied back into a bun. She was wearing a white lab coat, dark gray leggings and was so immersed in her work that she didn't hear the pair enter the room. Nate crossed the room and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Doc Amari?" The woman let out a startled yelp, causing Nate to spring back in surprise. She spun around, a mixture of anger and intent to kill in her eyes, but quickly froze when her sight landed on the former soldier.

"Oh, it's you, Mr. Williams. Please, I must ask you not to sneak up on me like that," Amari said, placing a hand on her chest. Nate grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry Doc," he said.

"Now, what is it I can help you with?"

"Well, this little lady here has a touch of memory loss. I was hoping that you'd be able to help her out," Nate explained. Korra clenched her fist in anger at her side, but otherwise remained silent. She'd given up trying to convince him that she didn't have memory loss. The man was just as stubborn as she was apparently.

"Ah. That shouldn't be a problem here. Hello, I'm Doctor Amari," Amari said as she turned to Korra and stuck out her hand. The Avatar took it and shook it.

"Korra."

"Please, if you'll take a seat, we can get started," Amari said, motioning to one of the pods before returning to her console. Korra eyed the pod suspiciously before shooting a questioning look at Nate.

"Will it hurt?" The sniper shook his head.

"Nah. You feel like you're in a limbo of sorts, somewhere between being awake and asleep," he explained. She eyed the pod again. He'd saved her life a couple of times so far, and she saw no reason not to mistrust him now. Taking a deep breath, Korra climbed into the pod and leaned back into the seat.

"Just sit back and relax," Amari instructed. Korra did as she was told as the pod closed around her and a screen lowered into her view. After a moment, her vision went white.

"She's settling in, everything looks normal." That was Amari's voice, echoing in her ears.

"Are there any memories we can work with?" Nate's voice, like Amari's echoed around her.

"Oh, plenty. In fact, this young woman's memory is completely intact. What aren't you telling me, Nate?" Amari asked. Korra smirked to herself. Finally, someone was listening to her.

"She has no knowledge about anything, Doc. It's like she's a vault dweller, but she hasn't even heard of the Vaults," Nate explained.

"Well, perhaps the answers you seek are in her memories. Korra? Can you hear me?"

"Yes?" Korra answered, her voice sounded off, like it wasn't quite coming from herself.

"Excellent. We're going to access one of your recent memories, and try to make sense of all this," Amari said. Slowly, images swam into view, and Korra realized that she was standing on a street in Republic City.

"Everyone fall back, get the wounded to Asami's office!" Korra was stunned to see herself run into view, airbending at something that she couldn't see. She quickly realized she was watching herself and her friends battling Kuvira's giant Mecha suit.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nate's voice echoed.

"Let's try something more recent," Amari said. Korra watched as a section of the street disappeared and was replaced with a dark purple path that looked as if it was made of glass or ice. All around her was a dark, violet colored void. The Avatar walked forward, following the path as it formed a few feet in front of her. Soon, she approached what looked like a room. But the moment she stepped inside, another familiar scene unfolded.

She was in the Spirit Wilds, hunting for Kuvira after the giant mecha tank had been brought down. Korra watched as her past self picked through the undergrowth, hunting for the rouge metalbender. Turning she suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of the spirit cannon. The weapon was suspended in some vines, and a grinning Kuivia was hanging off its side.

"Now it's over!"

"Don't!" Kuvira pulled down on the switch, and a bright purple glow flooded the barrel of the cannon. Korra watched her past self dive out of the way as the cannon fired, it's beam obliterating the spot where she had just been standing. All around them, the vines began to glow with the same color as the beam. Then the weapon began to spin as the force of the beam began to amplify.

"Shut it down!" Korra shouted. Kuvira complied, pulling on the switch. But the weapon didn't shut off. The metalbender's face showed shock, and then horror as she tried again and again.

"I can't!" she replied. The cannon began to spin more wildly, throwing it's rider clear. Korra watched as the beam came toward the metalbender, and then her past self threw herself in between the two. She threw her hands up, using energybending to deflect the beam. Bright white light suddenly flooded everything.

When the light had died down, Korra realized that her surroundings had changed. She wasn't in the Wilds anymore, but rather the parking lot in Concord. Her past self was sprawled out on the ground next to her, sparks of blue light fading out of existence around her.

"Extraordinary. This explains why she has no knowledge of the Commonwealth or anything else in general," Amari said, "Korra, we're going to pull you out now. Look around for the exit." Korra looked around the space around her and took notice of a television lying in a nearby junk pile. Unlike the other bits of junk around it that had been devoid of power for years, the screen was illuminated as if it was brand new and plugged in. The Avatar walked over and reached out to the screen. Just as her fingers brushed against it, the bright light consumed her again.

As the light cleared, Korra realized that she was back in the pod. Amari was standing next to her as the pod opened holding her hands up to keep her from moving too quickly. Not that she intended to move at all, given how off center her balance was at the moment.

For the first time in a while, Nate found himself at something of a loss for words. None of what he saw was possible in any way, yet the Memory Den had been his first destination in mind to see if his new friend was telling the truth or not. Personally, he had been banking on her just being another vault dweller who may have been suffering from memory loss or at the very least, someone who used too many chems. Given the variety of what he liked to think of as the 'Oh so charming' denizens that inhabited the regions outside of settlements, Nate wouldn't have put it beyond the realm of possibilities. But this? It gave him a headache. Deathclaws made from the stuff of nightmares, the knowledge that almost everyone he had ever known had been reduced to irradiated dust, and a half-baked plan to get his kidnapped son back had more than tugged at Nate's sanity. A woman with super powers? Sure. Why the actual hell not. She was just one of many bizarre things he had stumbled across since waking from the world's longest nap.

'If someone had told me one day I would be fighting mutant roaches, giant green men, and meeting a woman who's smack out of a Grognak comic,' Nate thought to himself, 'I would have laughed at them.'

Korra looked up at the strange void that surrounded these little pieces of her memories and decided to come clean. "So…I guess you have a couple of questions after all of-"

Frustration, a lack of sleep, and knowledge that he could've saved a fortune in caps on ammunition if he knew about her talents sooner finally boiled over.

"Damn right, I do! What the hell kind of city was that? How did you do that…that magic crap with wind fighting a giant robot? How did your home escape a damn nuclear Armageddon while the rest of the world got fried?!"

Korra winced at the volume of his voice. She knew it was going to be a difficult story to tell, but did he have to go to shouting so quickly?

"Well," she started, "I can tell you what you want to know, but I've got one condition to start out with before any of that happens.

Nate snorted a bit. "Oh, this should be good. What's the catch, magic lady?"

"I don't care if you think I'm crazy, but everything I'm going to tell you is the truth. If you don't like it," the Avatar crossed her arms, "then you've got to deal with it."

Having married a strong-willed woman, Nate knew exactly when someone was telling a joke and when they being serious. Not wanting to risk pissing off the woman with god-damn super powers, he relented.

"Ok." He sighed, "That's fair enough for me. For now anyway. But what about your 'one condition' in all of this?"

A low grumble sounded throughout the room and Korra blushed at the volume. "Is there…uh...anywhere I can get a bite to eat around here?"

For a brief moment, Nate held a blank expression as he processed the request. This ended as both he and Korra laughed. "Oh, I think I can get something together.

Amari, grateful for the tension in the room to be diffused for any reason, decided that she'd had enough excitement for the moment. "If you two are done, I would advise you both to search for food elsewhere. This is a room of sensitive equipment, not a commissary!"

Nate raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright! I get the memo." Turning to his new friend, he added "Come on, Magic Lady. I know a guy nearby who makes the best Mirelurk steaks around. Guarantee you'll love 'em!"

Korra gave the man a playful punch in the arm that he almost didn't wince at. "Shut up about the 'Magic Lady' stuff, alright? It's called 'bending.'" She smirked. "Say it with me now. 'Beennnndiiing.'"

As the two walked out the door together to get some food, Nate noticed that Korra had a slightly troubled expression on her face.

"Something up?"

"What's a Mirelurk?"

* * *

*Miles Away*

She didn't know where she was, nor did she know exactly what those creatures were that were in close pursuit. What did she know? They were relentless. The latest one roared with a terrible fury then swiped at her with its massive clawed hand, leaving deep gouges in a ruined car's door. Leaping backwards as the creature darted forward with a hunter's speed, she found herself with her back to the wall of a ruined store. The creature itself looked like something from the most depraved nightmare, a towering figure of leathery skin and eyes that seem to radiate a terrifying intelligence. On appearance alone, it would have broken the will of many a weaker combatant. But she was not weak. Moving her arms rapidly, metal flew out from her uniform and lodged itself through the open maw and eyes of the reptilian horror. Despite this, the creature lashed out wildly in an attempt to retaliate. Not wanting to give it a chance, a larger piece of metal was sent hurtling through the roaring mouth with the tip breaking the skin of the top of the creature's skull. Gurgling on its own blood and blinded by its prey, the monster staggered forward several steps in an attempt to at least rip the woman to bloody ribbons before collapsing.

Despite being victorious, the woman took no time to celebrate. This was the sixth time one of these things had tried its luck with making a meal out of her. Looking down at the being, she took note of the curling horns pointing forward like natural spears capable impaling an opponent, as well as the scaled ridges that ran the length of the back. The worst part would be the claws. Long and sharp, promising death to anyone unfortunate enough to come across such a creature. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the time had come for a plan of attack. The worst position to be in when it came to being somewhere unknown was to only be reactive instead of taking the initiative. Her first priority was to find somewhere relatively safe and fortified before making her next move. If there was one thing Kuvira knew, it was that she wouldn't let herself be ended by a few beasts no matter how determined they were.


End file.
